The latest Physical Activity and health & wellbeing figures paint a worrying picture:
23.4% of year 6 children are obese and 14.3% overweight.
This data is gathered as part of the National Child Measurement Programme and published by NHS Digital.
Children living in the most deprived parts of England are substantially more likely to be obese
Among ages 4-5, 6.2% of those in the least deprived areas were obese compared with 13.6% of those in the most deprived areas. Among ages 10-11, 13.5% of children in the least deprived areas were obese, compared with 31.3% in the most deprived areas.
Over 55% of children and young people aged 5-16 across the Cheshire and Warrington not meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines
for children and young people (60mins of physical activity per day)
The government estimates that every £1 spent on sport and physical activity generates almost £4 in return across health and wellbeing, strengthening communities and the economy.
And that each year, active lifestyles prevent 900,000 cases of diabetes and 93,000 cases of dementia, a combined saving of £7bn to the UK economy.
Therefore, sport and physical activity can support the goal of levelling up communities and supporting the most disadvantaged people in society.
As well as easing the strain on the NHS, it also recognises that physical activity helps tackle a range of social challenges, from loneliness and community division to unemployment and crime.
Our mission
Active Cheshire seek to form solid and lasting partnerships with agencies, support groups and statutory services who connect and influence families through this key life stage.
We realise that this is a massive task, one that Active Cheshire cannot tackle alone.
We would like to call on the support from all those working in this domain across Cheshire and Warrington to commit to providing opportunities for to improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families to ensure that our children get the best start in life and are safe, happy, healthy, resilient and reaching their potential.
RESOURCES
Connected
Active Cheshire CONNECTED will work in partnership with local trusted organisations to support communities to use new and existing infrastructure (including digital) to ensure ageing well means more years of happy, healthy life.
